Is PR really necessary?
Posted by Linus Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:42:00 GMT
So the other day I was talking to some friends and an interesting issue came up. Are PR firms really necessary for a startup’s growth? I for one have never used a PR firm nor have I ever had an inkling to find one. This got me interested however so I went around to do some research. I wanted to know what exactly these people do and why they are useful.
I found several sites but the best article I read was from a guest writer on TechCrunch:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/25/pr-secrets-for-startups/
The author does makes compelling arguments for why these people are needed… they know the PR “secrets”.
However, being a skeptical person, I still had my doubts. Like I said above, if they were so important, why have I not already sought one out?
After more reading, my doubts were bolstered by this response from Loic le Meur (serial entrepreneur and founder of Seesmic, which is located right below us)
http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2008/05/pr-secrets-bull.html
I absolutely love this rebuttal and his response really strikes a chord. Basically, a good product and strong community is greater than anything a PR firm could do. Loic, I couldn’t agree more and I am going to adopt your belief as one of my own tenants as well. This argument (at least in my mind) has come to rest.